By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
The Carter County Fiscal Court voted to remove Gimlet Creek Road from the county maintenance schedule during their regular May meeting. FIVCO informed the court that the grant they had applied for, based on House Bill 723, had been awarded. The grant will pay the $500,000 matching funds for the EDA Grant for the Autism Center if the EDA Grant is awarded. The Genesis CBDG Grant was also discussed, and a public hearing will be held on June 2, 2025.
Barry Webb of the Webbville Fire Department discussed the emergency siren at Willard with the fiscal court, and shared concerns about its operations.
“The fire department used to test that siren every Wednesday to make sure it was working,” Webb said. “In the past little over a year the department was notified that the siren was put on a radio frequency and was tested by radio once per week. But that’s never happened there.”
Webb said he wasn’t sure if it was outdated or bad equipment, but even when the fire department responds to a call, he noted, it is difficult to get in contact with dispatch. He said that there are apps for the phones, which help with the initial response, but once the fire fighters are on a call they face challenges with enough service to communicate. There are instances, he said, where they can pick up another county’s dispatch then get transferred to Carter County.
Another issue Webb brought before the court was that Willard is in the Webbville fire district, which is based in Lawrence County, but covers Carter County down to the pallet mill at John’s Run.
“We have never received any funding from Carter County at all,” Webb said. “We were always told by the fire commission that we weren’t in Carter County, but we are now.”
Webb said they had recently set up administrative offices, a training center, and substation in Willard. He said roughly 30 percent of their calls went to Carter County. (Editor’s note: Carter County Fiscal Court has voted in past years to distribute funds to the Webbville FD, along with the other fire departments that operate within the county. Webb may have been discussing direct disbursements from the fire commission funds rather than county funds.)
In other business, Carter County Clerk Mike Johnston told the fiscal court that maintenance upgrades – which are good for around 5 years – were scheduled to update the drives in the county’s voting machines. The fiscal court voted to spend roughly $12,000 required to satisfy the recommended maintenance upgrades, going beyond the bare minimum (roughly $8,000) the county was required to perform in order to secure an accurate election process. County voting machines include a battery back up in the event of power failure.
Johnston also presented the fiscal court with a check for $42,000 for the balance of the clerk’s settlement. The settlement left roughly $2,000 in that particular account to satisfy any county bills that had not been satisfied.
County Judge Executive Brandon Burton suggested to the court that those particular funds be returned to the clerk’s office. The funds, he suggested, might be used for the clerk’s office to hire another staff member to assist in the office’s operation, especially in the Olive Hill office. The court voted to not accept the clerk’s settlement.
The fiscal court also voted to begin the process of extending Finch Lane (County Road 1540) 2.06 miles. A bid was also accepted for a Kubota Excavator from State Equipment in the amount of $97,800 with a four-year extended warranty, and including a trade in of the existing Kubota excavator being replaced by the county. The extended warranty adds $4,200 to the purchase price. The court also voted to accept road bids until June 9.
In a separate, special meeting, the court voted to approve the 2025 budget. The court also held the second reading of the 2026 budget. The 2026 budget can be voted on in the June 2025 meeting.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
